Product Information

Publisher's Description

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When Genevieve Ahrens moves into the charming community of Glenbrooke, she revives the downtown area by purchasing the Wallflower Restaurant and making it a town favorite. But Gena's heart needs some renovation of its own when her daughter marries and Gena is back in touch with her estranged husband. All of her advice to a young friend about forgiving and trusting God to heal the hurt haunts her as she and Stephen talk through what went wrong in their marriage. Will the pain-filled couple experience the joy of God's redeeming grace or the agony of divorce?

Genevieve has been married for over half her life&hellip;so how can she suddenly fall deeply in love for the very first time?

Genevieve Ahrens dream is coming true at last! Glenbrookes Wildflowers Cafe goes up for sale and Genevieve knows she can make it into something special.

However, her new venture is far from easy. With her husband gone so often due to his career as an international airline pilot, Genevieve is alone in making all the important decisions. Her heart is empty and hollowed out...like an isolated cottage boarded up for a long winter season.

Its in the solitude of this dark season that Genevieve discovers friends she didnt realize she had. When this small circle of tender-hearted women rally around her, Genevieve finds light streaming in through the door of her heart. A door she thought she had locked and bolted long ago. The biggest surprise of all is when Genevieve realizes she is giddily in lovewith the last man she expected could make her feel this way!

Author Bio

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Robin Jones Gunn is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than 45 books, including 8 in The Glenbrooke series. She is also the author of the nonfiction work, Mothering by Heart. Robin and her husband, Ross, live in Portland, Oregon, with their teenage son and daughter.

Review by Kevin of Wildflowers by Robin Jones Gunn, who writes from Portland OR and from Hawaii.

Wildflowers is the 8th and final book in the Glenbrooke series. I am not sure if it is my favorite because I read all prior 7 books in the series, so I felt like I already knew many of the characters, or because it is one of the few romances I have read where the two main characters are already married. Due to some external difficulties and challenges, both began to wonder "Where did the excitement and beauty of our first days together go?" It also helped that there is no violence or occult themes which are found in so many of the popular romance novels. Yet, it is obvious that God created men and women to have intimacy and celebration and good communication as part of a healthy marriage and despite some starts and stops, this couple moves towards better communication as the novel progresses.ÃÂ

Since I have been married over 30 years, I have seen some of those challenges which this couple faced. Fortunately, neither my wife or I have had to see either of our businesses burn to the ground, or wonder where the money would come from to rebuild, but I have been laid off from a job more than once, and my wife had to return to school for over year while in her late 50s in order to become relicensed in a different state. Similar to what this couple saw, we have seen God's provision, both directly, and through gifts from thoughtful Christian friends, as well as being hired to new jobs after sending out many resumes, networking etc. I loved how they wrote Bible verses on the floor of the restaurant before tiling and painting it, and looking over someone's shoulders as some of those encouraging verses were found. I later learned from another book of Robin's Victims of Grace, (c 2013) that she and her family did something similar to a home they were remodeling in Portland.

When I finished the book, I only had two disappointments, 1) That the series was over, and 2) That my wife and I did not have enough money to go and buy 20 copies of this series so we could share copies with our friends. We have loaned out this and other Robin Jones Gunn books to a few friends, and bought a few for gifts, as well as told some friends which libraries had a copy or two available to put on hold.ÃÂ

Even if you don't have time to read the prior 7 books, Robin gives enough info on the other characters that you could easily read and enjoy this one first. Then, if you enjoyed it, you could go back and read some or all of the others. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is between 24 and 80, but some folks older or younger may enjoy it as well. The books in Sierra Jenson Series by Robin Jones Gunn are likewise excellent, but targeted to girls in their late teens. I read some of the Sierra Jenson Series with my daughter, when she was in high school. My wife, Joy, has been enjoying the Sisterchicks Series, especially Sisterchicks Do the Hula. We read part of that book together. By the way, of the 20+ Robin Jones Gunn books I have read, this is still my favorite.